Xuanxia

Chapter 579: Minglisi

Fu Qingzhou's words were like a thunderclap that broke through the silent mountain.

Everyone looked at him in shock, his teammates, opponents, and all the officials on the field...

Their faces were like an overturned sauce shop, with colorful and different expressions overlapping. It was hard to imagine that the same two eyes, one nose and one mouth could make so many expressions.

Finally, after they took a few breaths to digest Fu Qingzhou's words, someone could no longer sit still.

Almost at the same time, some people, whether they were spectators or officials on the judging panel, couldn't help but move their butts off their chairs and wanted to stand up and say something.

But someone spoke faster than them.

"You you you you you..."

Zhao Yuan slammed the table excitedly and said, "Go on!"

Fu Qingzhou let out a breath.

He quickly organized the thoughts in his mind, and then slowly spoke.

"In fact, I have always felt that Mingjian Pavilion is still missing a department."

He said in a deep voice: "That is... to provide legal aid for citizens to sue officials."

"W-what?" Zhao Yuan widened his eyes, confused.

Not only him, everyone was confused.

What is legal aid?

Fu Qingzhou smiled slightly and said, "May I ask your Majesty, if the people of Dayan feel that the government is unfair and want to sue the officials, what should we do?"

"Citizens suing officials?"

Upon hearing these three words, all the civil and military officials performed Sichuan Opera face-changing again.

Zhao Yuan's eyes lit up.

But he did not rush to answer. Instead, he slowly put on a half-smile on his face and said leisurely, "I remember that the Censorate was in charge of this matter... Lord Bai, you go ahead and tell me."

"Yes."

In the crowd, Bai Jin stood up slowly.

He looked at Fu Qingzhou with a complicated expression, and said slowly: "Mr. Qianlong, it is like this - if the people want to sue the officials, they can submit a complaint to our Censorate. After receiving the complaint, we, the censors, will send the case back to the higher-level government office of the accused official, or to the Censorate of the same level for investigation and trial."

"In addition, there should be a drum for reporting to the emperor in front of the palace..."

He spoke eloquently about a lot of relevant rules. Fu Qingzhou listened very carefully, but his brows gradually furrowed.

The whole process is too complicated.

When submitting a petition to the Censorate, it must first be submitted to the local state or county government for processing. If the local government ignores it, then the petition can be submitted to the Censorate. If the Censorate also ignores it, then the petition can be reported to the Censorate by beating the drum.

But there are still various troubles. For example, petitions have a fixed format. Petitions that do not follow the format will not be accepted. Petitions with erasures or typos will not be accepted.

In addition, Dayan has a "counter-false accusation" system for citizens suing officials, which means that if a citizen's lawsuit against an official fails and is found to be a "false accusation", then the plaintiff himself will be held responsible for the same crime!
In addition, there are many small details, such as not accepting anonymous petitions, petitions must be submitted in person, and cases that occurred more than a certain number of years ago will not be accepted...

"Okay, that's enough."

Fu Qingzhou interrupted Bai Jin's statement and sighed, "Master Bai, you have said so much, have you noticed the problem?"

Bai Jin frowned, but did not answer. He just smiled slightly, bowed and said, "Please tell me in detail, Master Fu."

He is also an old fox.

Fu Qingzhou rolled his eyes in his heart and said to Zhao Yuan bluntly: "Your Majesty, let me be frank. With this system, it is extremely difficult for the people to sue the officials!"

“It’s a cumbersome process, with strict requirements and huge risks, and you have to go to Beijing in person.”

He sneered, "Some places are more than a thousand miles away from Beijing. If the officials there oppress the people, how can the people sue them?"

"A few years ago, I destroyed a mountain stronghold in Shu and looted an account book in the stronghold. In the account book, there were written in black and white the names of no less than ten officials from the surrounding prefectures and counties, all of whom had interests in the stronghold! Could it be that the local people really don't know what's going on?" "It's just that Shu is too far away, and they have no power to report it!"

Fu Qingzhou exhaled lightly and said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, if Dayan wants to prosper and have clean officials and obedient people, this system of people suing officials... must be reformed."

"Then..." Yan Yidong suddenly spoke up on the judging platform: "What does this have to do with your debate today?"

Fu Qingzhou smiled.

"Of course it's relevant."

He said: "We debate whether the court should recruit more talents from the Jianghu, and whether it is too lenient towards the aristocratic families. The reason is that we don't like the other party squeezing out our own interests..."

After that, he suddenly stopped, glanced at everyone present, and said with a smile: "I'm a little blunt, do you mind?"

"Cough, cough, cough..." The sound of clearing throats suddenly rang out in the field.

It seemed as if all the civil and military officials suddenly felt an unbearable dry and itchy throat at this moment.

"As long as you don't mind."

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Then this matter is simple, isn't it? Mingjian Pavilion is not involved in political affairs, but it is the most powerful sword in the hand of His Majesty. Mingjian Pavilion is responsible for patrolling on behalf of the emperor and supervising all officials. Now a new department is set up to handle cases of "civilians suing officials", and local branches are added. A large number of talents are recruited. People from the martial arts world and children of aristocratic families can all join. Wouldn't all the problems be solved?"

He spoke quite bluntly, saying many things that should have been tacitly understood, which made everyone look unhappy.

But as I said, there are no stupid officials.

In less than a moment, they tasted the interesting part of Fu Qingzhou's proposal.

No matter whether they were from aristocratic families or from poor families, their eyes gradually lit up!
Just as Fu Qingzhou had thought before... For the aristocratic families, the fact that their children could enter the Mingjian Pavilion meant that the family's power tentacles had finally extended into Dayan's highest-level violent institution!
As for the party standing opposite to the aristocratic families, if Mingjian Pavilion really sets up this department, it will greatly restrict the power of officials - and now among the officials, the aristocratic families are the priority, this move will surely make the aristocratic families restrain a lot.

In an instant, countless ways to harm the other side by using this "newly established department" flashed through both sides' minds.

Zhao Yuan also nodded frequently, with excitement shining on his face.

He turned his head and looked at Yan Yidong: "My dear Yan, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I think..." Yan Yidong stood up and said, "This plan is feasible."

He pondered and said, "Dayan is a vast country. For remote places, the mountains are so high that you can't see the clouds, and the land is so far away that you can't see the sky. If local officials have malicious intentions and oppress the people, the people have nowhere to complain and the capital is powerless to learn about it. Even the secret envoys of Mingjian Pavilion can hardly guarantee that they know everything in the world. Having this new department to facilitate people to sue officials is a great benefit."

Zhao Yuan smiled and nodded, then looked at Yuan Ye: "What about Yuan Aiqing? What do you think?"

"hehe."

Yuan Ye smiled gently: "Your Majesty, I also think this is a good plan!"

He also stood up and saluted, and replied with a smile on his face: "Whether the students today support the noble families or the poor families, they are all for our Great Yan court. Now Qianlong Bo has come up with a plan that responds to the ideas of both sides. This goes beyond the debate itself and relieves a great worry for our Great Yan!"

"What Prime Minister Yan said just now is also very true - this is a great virtue!"

Fu Qingzhou looked at their reactions and curled the corners of his mouth slightly.

Needless to say, everyone was thinking about using this new department to seek benefits for themselves.

You even said that Yuan Ye and the others couldn't imagine that this incident might divide the children of the aristocratic families?
No, they will definitely think of it.

But they…don’t care.

In other words, be confident enough.

They don't think that their descendants and younger generations, after entering Mingjian Pavilion, will one day stand against them and deal with them.

"good……"

Zhao Yuan turned his gaze to Fu Qingzhou again: "Mr. Qianlong, regarding this new department... do you have any idea about how this department should operate? Do you have any idea about how to name this department?"

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Your Majesty, of course."

"I think this department should be called... the Department of Awareness, how about that?"

(End of this chapter)